China’s reemergence as a wealthy and powerful nation is a fact. In recent decades its rise has been unprecedented, moving from the tenth-largest economy in 1990, to the sixth-largest economy in 2001, to the second-largest economy in 2010. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China now surpasses the United States in terms of purchasing […]
As China once again offers ASEAN states billions of dollars and promotes another treaty for “Good Neighborly and Friendly Cooperation” (which sounds an awful lot like the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation), Southeast Asian nations should consider how China perceives ASEAN and what goals it hopes to gain from its interactions with the bloc. By […]
It’s now been a year since China unilaterally declared an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over a large swathe of the East China Sea. Beijing’s decision to do so came at a time of rising tensions between China and Japan over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. While that dispute persists today, tensions were significantly higher a […]
Last week’s Fifth Xiangshan Forum in Beijing demonstrated just how difficult it will be to resolve disputes in the South China Sea as long as key parties believe history must arbitrate the veracity of claims to sovereignty over contested islands. Scholars, officials and military officers from all around Asia were present, including many from the […]
The event, themed “East Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development,” entered its last day on Tuesday, with a hot issue raised: whether China will announce its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Sea after it has already announced the same zone in the East China Sea. Professor Robert Beckman, director of the […]
The international media has reported that China is undertaking large-scale South China Sea reclamation works on several of the seven reefs it occupies in the Spratly Islands. The 2002 Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea states that the parties undertake to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that […]
COMMUTERS BETWEEN MARIN COUNTY and San Francisco in northern California are getting used to a new spectacle during rush hour. Vast, ungainly container ships, bearing China’s flag and name, plough along under the glorious Golden Gate Bridge. They are bringing goods into the Port of Oakland—and taking back America’s trade deficit. Any pleasure yachts zipping […]
China will push for the implementation of a code of conduct for the South China Sea – a document that will lessen the risk of escalating tensions in the area-but experts said such an agreement faces obstacles, at least in the short term. Premier Li Keqiang reaffirmed China’s resolve to safeguard territorial sovereignty at a […]
NAYPYITAW – President Aquino has asked China to remove its ships illegally deployed in the West Philippine Sea. Speaking at the ASEAN-China summit yesterday at Myanmar International Convention Center, Aquino said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations values practical cooperation and early harvest measures, including hotlines and search and rescue arrangements. “These activities, however, can […]
NAYPYITAW: The South China Sea territorial dispute continues to be a hot topic at the 25th Asean Summit that began here yesterday as leaders of the grouping are expected to address the issue in a statement to be issued by current Asean chair, Myanmar, today. The dispute is made more complex with China, one of […]